WEB SITE FOR SOCIAL SUMMIT SPECIAL SESSION LAUNCHED

Press Release
PI/1212

WEB SITE FOR SOCIAL SUMMIT SPECIAL SESSION LAUNCHED

All the new developments and information about the United Nations General Assembly Special Session to follow-up the 1995 Social Summit, which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26-30 June, 2000, are available on a new Web site at the Internet address http://www.un.org/esa/socdev.

The Geneva session will consider action on social issues that are currently dominating public attention in this age of globalization, such as poverty, employment and labour rights.

Intended as a site for news and information concerning the special session, from the impact of the World Trade Organization to the social crisis in Central Asia, the new Web site will provide delegates, non-governmental organizations, media and the public with up-to-date coverage of the events leading up to the Geneva meeting. The site also contains the latest official documentation for the session, as well as the latest negotiated texts.

The Web site will be maintained by the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Social Policy and Development and by the United Nations Department of Public Information.

Among the delegations from 186 countries participating in the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995 were 117 Heads of State or Government who agreed on a comprehensive declaration and programme of action that addressed issues of poverty, unemployment and social integration. The outcome of the Summit was prescient as it foresaw the very problems that have accompanied rapid globalization, such as the increased marginalization of large sectors of the world's population.

The United Nations Web site, www.un.org, was launched in September 1996. It now receives, on average, over 4 million accesses from some 140 countries every week, and is available in the six official languages of the Organization.

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